Chocolate Monkey Bread Recipe

What's a party without sweet buns? Right, we agree, so we were thrilled when Chef Lisa came up with this surprisingly easy, impressive and unbelievably delicious recipe for Chocolate Cinnamon Monkey Bread. Not only is each bun dipped in butter and rolled in a chocolate chip mixture, but it's also coated and baked in a brown sugar glaze. This is one recipe guaranteed to bring the house down.

Bite Me Bit

“What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.”

Directions

1) For the dough, in a small bowl, combine warm water and 1 tsp sugar. Sprinkle yeast on top, cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, using the microwave, in a glass dish, heat milk and butter, until milk is warm and butter is melted. Pour into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add ¼ cup sugar, salt and eggs. Pour in yeast mixture and using a dough hook attachment, mix on low speed just to combine. Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing on low speed. Once all the flour has been added, mix on medium speed for 3 minutes to knead the dough. Remove from mixer and place dough into a lightly oiled mixing bowl. Cover and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 45 minutes. While the dough rises, butter the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan.

2) For the glaze, place the butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk in brown sugar, corn syrup, cocoa powder and salt. Whisking constantly, boil the mixture for 1 minute. Remove from heat and pour half the glaze in the bottom of prepared Bundt pan. Set remaining glaze aside.

3) For the chocolate chip coating, place the milk chocolate, semi sweet chocolate, brown sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon and salt in a food processor bowl. Pulse until finely ground, place in a shallow dish and set aside. In another small bowl, place the melted butter.

4) When the dough has risen, knead for 1 minute on a lightly floured surface. Cut off golf ball-size pieces of dough and roll each piece into a ball. You should have about 50 balls. Lightly dip each dough ball into the melted butter and then roll them in the chocolate chip mixture. As you go, stack the balls of dough over the glaze in the prepared Bundt pan. Start a new layer once the bottom is covered with balls. Top with any remaining chocolate chip coating. If remaining glaze has hardened, reheat gently and pour over the prepared dough balls. Cover the pan with a clean cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.

5) Preheat oven to 350ºF. Once the dough has doubled in size, bake for 28 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges for easy removal and carefully flip onto a serving plate.